Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/93473708926?pwd=VHFKZGJ5N3ljbzZtVU1qQVRZY1lodz09
Meeting ID: 934 7370 8926
Passcode: 552967
Theme: Called to Care and Serve
Welcome and Gathering
Presider: Joan
Welcome to our Zoom liturgy at Mary Mother of Jesus, an inclusive Catholic Community where all are welcome.
-Please have bread and wine/juice nearby as we pray our Eucharistic prayer.
Gathering Song: Being Kind ( stop at 2:00 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJhZ64BvvFU
Communal Transformation Rite
Presider: Dotty
We pause now to remember times when fear blocked us from sharing God's tender love with others.
(Pause briefly. Then extend arm over your heart)
All: I let go into the arms of Boundless Love and Infinite Forgiveness and open myself to Spirit moving within guiding me to healing and wholeness
GLORIA: Linda Lee Miller;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbarqE9o8QY
Opening Prayer:
Presider: Joan
We rejoice that the Holy Mystery, the Lover of All, the Beloved, and the Breath of Love is with us, within us and beyond us. We trust in the divine presence always with us calling us to be kind and to lovingly care for our sisters and brothers everywhere.
Liturgy of the Word
FIRST READING : Jerry Bires
A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah 6:1-8
In the year that the Ruler Uzziah died, I saw the Holy One sitting on a throne, high and lofty. The hem of God’s robe filled the Temple. Above, seraphim were in attendance. Each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they hovered. Calling out to one another, they cried, “Holy, holy, holy is the God of the Cosmos, whose glory fills the earth.” The threshold shook to its foundations at the sound, while the Temple began to fill with smoke.
Then I said, “Woe is me! I am doomed. For I am of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. Yet my eyes have seen the Ruler of All, the God of the Cosmos.”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding a live coal which the creature had taken with tongs from the altar. With this, it touched my mouth and said, “Look, this has touched your lips. Your guilt has fled. Your misdeeds have been blotted out.”
Then I heard the voice of God saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” And I said, “Here I am, send me!”
These are the sacred words in the Book of Isaiah and we respond to them by saying:
All: So be it. Amen
Responsorial PSALM : Be Still And Know by Shaina Knoll (shortened)
https://youtu.be/CCGsExqtYKo
Second READING: Suzanne Bires
A Reading from Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 15:1-11
Dear ones, I want to remind you of the gospel, the good news, I proclaimed to you. You made the gospel your own. You have taken your stand on it. If you hold firm to the word that I proclaimed to you, you will be free; you will not have believed in vain.
What I received I also passed on to you at the outset: that Jesus died as a servant of all, according to the Scriptures; that he was buried; that the Christ was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that the risen Christ appeared [to Mary Magdalene]* and Peter, then to Jesus’ closest followers; that the risen Christ later appeared to more than 500 of the disciples at the same time, most of whom are still living, although some have since died; that the risen Christ spent time with James and all the rest of the apostles who were commissioned to continue Jesus’ good work; and that, last of all, the risen Christ appeared to me, as to one untimely born.
I am the least of all the apostles and don't even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God; but, by God's grace, I am what I am. This grace was not without effect, for I have reached out to the Gentiles more than all the others. Yet it was not I who did it, but God's grace that was in me. So, whether you heard it from me, or from the others, it's all the same. This is what we proclaim. This is what you believed.
The Word of the Apostle Paul.
Thanks be to God
*The CCL includes the gospel affirmation that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, although Paul never mentions her in his letters (see notes in CCL table). Your community can discern whether to include it. It would seem Paul had not heard the stories of Mary Magdalene now preserved in the gospels. Perhaps already in the time of Paul, there was a movement to eliminate her vital role as Apostle to the Apostles, Apostle of the resurrection.
Alleluia (Eightfold) – Jan Phillips shortened
https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw
GOSPEL: Dotty
A Reading from the Gospel attributed to Luke 4:38-44
On leaving the synagogue, Jesus entered the house of Simon and his family. Simon’s mother-in-law was in the grip of a high fever. They asked Jesus to help her.
Jesus stood over her and rebuked the fever. The fever left her. She got up immediately and “deaconed”* to them, served them at table.
At sunset, people who had a variety of diseases were brought to Jesus. He laid hands on each and cured them. Demons departed from many, crying out as they did so, “You are the Chosen One of God!” Jesus rebuked them and forbade them to speak, for they knew he was the Messiah.
The next morning, Jesus left the house and went to a desert place. The crowds followed. When they found Jesus, they tried to keep him from leaving them. Jesus said, “I must proclaim the Good News of God’s reign to other towns too. That is what I was sent to do.”
And he preached in the synagogues throughout Judea. The Gospel of God.
Praise to You, Jesus the Christ.
*The Greek word used by this evangelist was already, at the time the Gospel was written, a word describing a formal ecclesial office diakonea (deacon/ess). The audience would have heard the verb used in reference to Peter’s mother-in-law in this context.
Homily Starter: Bridget Mary
The readings in our Liturgy today are taken from the Comprehensive Catholic Lectionary whose purpose is to include every significant story about women in the Bible not included in the canonical Sunday lectionary and to provide a translation in inclusive language. In the Gospel reading, the CCL includes the story of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. https://www.inclusivelectionary.org/projects
The first reading -Isaiah 6:1-8- recounts the call of Isaiah to be a prophet, a call all of us share by our baptism.
The second reading in 1 Cor refers to Paul's call as apostle, a call he equates with the other apostles and disciples whom the Risen Christ appeared to. Note that Paul leaves out Mary Magdalene. Scholars believe that this may have been because most of Paul’s letters were written before the Gospels. According to all four gospels Mary Magdalene is the first witness to encounter the Risen Christ and called to be the Apostle to the Apostles.
This is the reason, the Comprehensive Catholic Lectionary/CCL reinstates Mary Magdalene in Paul’s list of witnesses in this text.
The CCL selected the healing of Peter's mother-in-law, a story about a woman that is left out of the canonical Cycle C lectionary for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. This narrative, affirms that Simon Peter was married, had an extended family and that the fishing business supported the entire household.
Scholar Lizzie Berne DeGear provides an insightful reflection of this story as a profound encounter between Jesus and Peter’s mother-in-law whom she names as Nana.
“They touch each other and are touched by each other. And then he gives her the support she needs to stand up. I see them there, holding hands, standing together and looking each other in the eye, in a truly relational experience.
She can stand on her own two feet. Her feverish panic leaves her. Nana is healed because she no longer feels like she is on the outside looking in, no longer left behind, helpless and vulnerable… The spirit of hospitality fills her heart and she springs into action.
The Greek word used to describe her action is diakoneo. It is the word for ministry. It is the root of the Christian ministerial title "deacon." He supports her as she rises, then she ministers hand-in-hand with him. Not only is Nana’s family expanding, Jesus’ ministry is expanding too. Nana’s diakoneo signifies her welcoming Jesus into their extended family, and it also signifies him welcoming her into their blossoming ministry. “
(This excerpt is from Jesus Found in Translation ©2022 Elizabeth Berne DeGear, p.8.)
By the time this gospel was written (c. 85 CE), the word diakoneo -meaning ministering hand-in-hand- serving -carried clear overtones of ecclesial roles which the audience would have known. In the first three centuries after Jesus, for example, women served in diakoneo ministry in house churches.
The inclusion of this story in the Comprehensive Catholic lectionary not only affirms the call of women to leadership roles including ordination, but also affirms the call of all the baptized to diakoneo/ ministering-hand-in hand- with the Holy One -serving others in a spirit of Gospel Hospitality and prophetic witness.
The question for us is how are we called to diakoneo/ministry hand-in-hand with Christ today?
Community Sharing: What did you hear in our readings/homily starter that spoke to you?
Communal Statement of Faith
Prayer Leader: Jerry Bires.
Please join in our Communal Statement of Faith
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of divine love,
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.
Prayer Leader: Suzanne Bires
Prayers for the Community
As we prepare for this sacred meal we are aware of our call to serve, and just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our prayers for the community. Please feel free to voice your prayers beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”
(Joan Meehan: MMOJ Book of Intentions)
Prayers for the community are offered.
Prayer Leader: Suzanne Bires
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
Preparation of the Gifts:
Presider Dotty Blessed are You, Holy One, through Your divine providence we have this bread, to share, the Bread of Life.
Dotty and All: Blessed are You, Holy One, forever.
Presider Joan P. and All: Blessed are You, O Loving One through Your divine providence we have this wine to share, our spiritual drink.
Joan and All: Blessed are, You, Holy One, forever.
Presider Joan : Nurturing One, we are united in this sacrament by the love of Christ, whose presence we are as we proclaim the liberating power of your Spirit Sophia, in our humanity and divinity, calling us to build the unity of Love in a more compassionate and just world. All: Amen.
Eucharistic Prayer
Prayer Leader: Jerry Bires
Extravagant Lover, in you, with you and through your endless outpouring of grace, we are blessed with joy amidst the wrong and suffering of our world. In you, we live and move and dwell in love to care for our sisters and brothers everywhere.
Prayer Leader: Suzanne Bires
Generous Giver, you give us wise companions on our journey who work for humanity’s healing and well-being and for the flourishing of all creation .
With thankful hearts, in the company of all holy women and men, your liberating Spirit rises up within us, works through us and we sing:
All: Holy, Holy, Holy (adapted from Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker)
https://youtu.be/orKBBIj5LZA
Prayer Leader: Jerry Bries
Conscious of the oneness we share and the inequity that exists in our world, we pray that we may serve others with generous hearts especially the least and the last, the oppressed and marginalized. The bread we break and the cup we share are symbols of the fullness of life that all are invited to share.
All: Please extend Your hands in blessing and pray together.
Presider Dotty and All:
As we bless this bread and wine, we are ever aware of Your Spirit in us and among us at this Eucharistic table. We remember our brother Jesus whose life and teachings reflected the depth of divine love beyond our hopes and dreams.
Presider Dotty and All:
On the night before he died, Jesus came to table with his family and the women and men he loved. Jesus took bread blessed and broke it, saying, “Take, eat, this is my body. Do this in memory of me.”
(pause)
Presider Joan and All:
After supper, Jesus poured a cup of wine and shared it with his friends, saying,
“This is the cup of the covenant of my love. As often as You drink of it, remember me.”
Prayer Leader Joan and All:
Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died in all those who have passed away from violent hate crimes.
Christ is rising in all those working for the well-being of humanity, dismantling institutional sexism, racism and all that divides us.
Christ comes each day in our ministry, prayers and actions for a renewed world with justice and equity for all.
Prayer Leader Suzanne: Embracing Presence, we remember all the companions who have gone before us: Mary, Mother of Jesus, Mary of Magdala, and all holy women and men who are rising up in loving service to heal our world. We pause now to remember our family and loved one in thel communion of saints.
(pause)
(Presiders and all hold bread and wine)
Presider Jerry and All:
For it is through living as Jesus lived, and loving as he loved, that we awaken to Your Spirit empowering us to work for the flourishing of life on for all people and for planet Earth.
All: Great Amen (Sung) Linda Lee Miller
https://youtu.be/Dy76fpfkNsg
Communion Rite
The Prayer of Jesus
Joan and All:
Gracious Spirit,
Who loves us like a mother,
Whose realm is blooming among us now.
And within.
We pray that your compassion guide us in every action.
Give us what we need for each day,
and help us to be satisfied with the miracle of that alone.
Forgiver, whose embrace brings us to wholeness without our asking, may we reconcile ourselves to one another in humility.
And may we cancel the crushing debts that imprison our neighbors, so that communities of joy and health may flourish.
May we neither profit from nor ignore evil.
But ever work to thwart it with non-violence, as we co-create the realm of peace in this world, now and each day.
Amen. (Bret Hesla/wsj)
Presider Dotty Sign of Peace:
Please bow to each other and pray: Namaste, namaste, namaste
Communion
Presider Dotty and All:
Please join in praying the Litany for the Breaking of the Bread All:
All: Holy One, You call us to speak truth to power; we will do so.
Holy One, You call us to live the Gospel of healing and justice;
we will do so.
Holy One, You call us to be Your presence in the world; we will do so.
Presider Joan : This is the bread of life and the cup of blessing. Blessed are we who are called to the Feast.
Presider Mary Kay and All: We are the Body and Blood of Christ for the world.
Please receive/share Eucharist now.
Communion Meditation Song: Come to the Water – two verses
https://youtu.be/_FMuokL8tZc
Post Communion Prayer:
Presider Dotty:
We go forth, nourished at this banquet table, to be love in the world. May, we know Jesus in the depths of our hearts and, experience the Risen One’s strength within us, enabling us to live as courageous, compassionate witnesses to the Gospel every day.
Joan: Thanksgivings, Introductions and Announcements: Please unmute yourself if you have a thanksgiving to share.
Concluding Rite
Presider Joan: The Holy One is within You. As you go forth to continue your ministry for justice and equality, and peace for all life and earth itself, may we serve our sisters and brothers with acts of kindness and compassion each day.
All: Amen, Alleluia!
Presider Dotty Please extend Your hands as we pray our final blessing.
Presider Dotty and All:
We go forth as apostles, to share the good news that love lives within us, and, strengthens us to be love in our world.
Closing Song: Come As You Are – The Many
https://youtu.be/WLQsfto8LyE
If you would like to add your intention to our MMOJ Community Prayers book,
Please send an email to Joan Meehan: joanmeehan551@aol.com
If you would like to invite another person to attend our liturgy please refer them to
Marymotherofjesus.net
where the day’s liturgy is found. Zoom instructions are also included there.
